To Be What You Might Have Been
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Darwin published On the Origin of Species at age 50. Colonel Sanders started Kentucky Fried Chicken with his first Social Security check. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the first of her Little House on the Prairie series at age 65. Twain published Huckleberry Finn at 49. Cezanne did his greatest work in his 60s.
Then there’s Grandma Moses, who had her first New York art exhibit at the age of 74. Florida’s Marjorie Stoneman Douglas wrote River of Grass at age 57, then started her historic fight to save the precious Everglades at 78—and was still an environmental activist at 100 years old. Sojourner Truth became the traveling preacher we remember at 53. Some might call these people “late bloomers.”
“Late bloomer” was originally a term applied to plants that blossom late in their life cycle. Now we use it to refer to people who find their niche, their passion, their voice or vocation later in their life cycles and therefore seem to “arrive” later than their peers. It can also refer to folks who change course in life to follow their deepest dream.
That seed inside you, yearning to bloom, is not waiting for right conditions, for the perfect time, the easy time, the convenient time, the “if only” time. That seed inside you waits only for you to dare, to bloom. In the words of 19th-century English Unitarian Mary Ann Evans (better known as the author George Eliot), “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”
With ten CDs to her credit, the latest a celebration of devotional music the world over titled Moments: Music-Mantra- Mystery, Amy continues her music ministry, conducting conferences for at-risk populations, and composing for congregational singing. She is a charter Fellow of Music2Life: Soundtrack for Social Change, founded by Noel Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul and Mary), and writes on music in the work of justice. Since 1999, Amy has taught at SUUSI (Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute), where she has served on the Board and is now on Core Staff.
She lives in Miami with her spouse of 21 years, Brooke. They have two grown sons, one grandchild and a therapy dachshund known as The Preacher';s Pup.
- To Be What You Might Have Been - September 1, 2016
